Creative New booze laws proposed in CO

[hoosier]

'Haven' for underage drinkers

By Peggy Lowe, Rocky Mountain News
December 21, 2004

Colorado House Democrats on Monday announced a bill that would offer underage drinkers a "safe haven" from criminal prosecution if they call 911 to report an intoxicated friend has passed out.

The bill is being modeled after the so-called "Baby Moses" measure, a law passed in 2000 that allows parents to leave their babies at a fire station or hospital within three days of birth without fear of criminal charges.

Since passage of the law, parents of nine babies have been offered immunity.

The safe-haven drinking law would allow a minor to call authorities to get help for a friend and not be prosecuted for a minor-in-possession infraction. The measure is one of a package of bills announced by House Democrats on Monday aimed at the recent and highly publicized binge-drinking deaths on college campuses.

New laws such as the safe-haven bill, another that would give college towns more control over liquor licenses and a third that would tag beer kegs must be added to the education campaigns already under way, said Rep. Angie Paccione, D-Fort Collins.

"We want to get out a message out there that friends don't let friends sleep it off," Paccione said. "We're having too many kids - college kids, especially - end up dead on couches."

Since Colorado State University student Samantha Spady was found dead of alcohol poisoning in a frat house on Sept. 5, six other Colorado high school and college students have died in circumstances involving alcohol.

The Sept. 17 death of Lynn "Gordie" Bailey, an 18-year-old University of Colorado student, points out the need for the safe-haven law, said Rep. Alice Madden, D-Boulder. The pledges who were with Bailey the night of he drank himself to death during a frat party wouldn't talk to authorities, she said.

"Every one of those kids went and got lawyers, so they didn't want to talk to the police. They lawyered up," Madden said. "I think we need to change the circle-the-wagons approach."

In addition to the safe-haven bill and the liquor-license measure, other bills the Democrats plan to push during the 2005 legislative session are:

• Increasing penalties for providing alcohol to minors. Currently it's a Class 2 misdemeanor, punishable by three to 12 months in jail and a fine of $250 to $1,000. Paccione wants to increase that to a Class 1 misdemeanor, which moves up the jail time to six to 18 months and the fines to $500 to $5,000.

Paccione said she may also introduce a bill that would increase penalties for fake IDs and underage possession of alcohol.

• Tagging beer kegs so they can be traced to the buyer to identify who provided alcohol to minors.

• Outlawing "AWOL," or alcohol without liquid, an intense high created when an 80-proof spirit is poured into a vaporizer then inhaled through the mouth, bypassing the liver and going right to the brain. _